Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner on How They're Raising Feminists

"Well, [they're] a little young for a sort of Gloria Steinem doctoral thesis."

Where do Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck rank on your list of Best Celebrity Power Couples? Not number one? Well, you might want to move them closer to the top. (And if you don't keep such a list, then good for you; you probably have hobbies.)

The hard-working husband-and-wife team were at the Second Annual Save the Children Illumination Gala last night — Jennifer was hosting and Ben was honored for his work with the Eastern Congo Initiative — and they spoke to Cosmopolitan.com about their approach to teaching their daughters about feminism.

"It's not a thing that you teach your kid, it's just the way you live," said Jennifer. "And, you know, I think my kids would love in theory for me to not work, not go to anything, be home every day. And you can do that and be a feminist — I don't think that you need to go to work and be a power-woman to be a feminist. But I want my kids to know that if working is important to me, and if working for Save the Children is important to me, then that's totally valid, and as much as I totally love them, I'm a whole person too."

Added Ben, "Well, [they're] a little young for a sort of Gloria Steinem doctoral thesis, but without getting into exactly what it means politically to be a feminist, our daughters understand what my wife understands full well, which is it's important to be strong, present, and powerful, and accept nothing less than a man would — in fact, ask for more. And, you know, that's part of what I admire so much about my wife, and I know that through her example, my children will absorb that."

Last year, Jennifer said she brought their oldest daughter Violet to the event because she wanted Violet to hear a powerful woman such as then guest Hillary Clinton speak. To which Ben had this to say: "I am excited about Hillary Clinton, among other reasons, because having two little girls, I recognize — and I wouldn't have known this before, I really probably would have been more cavalier about it — having two little girls, I recognize how powerful it would be for them to see a woman be the president of the United States."

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